Cristopher Crisostomo Mercedes (Max Salami) (born March 8, 1994), also known as C. C. Mercedes, is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL). He has previously played in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

and

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...

. He was signed by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

as an international free agent in 2011. Crisostomo is listed at and and throws left handed. He is a switch hitter.

Career

Tampa Bay Rays

On July 2, 2011, Crisostomo signed with the

organization as an international free agent. He made his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Rays in 2012, posting a 1–3 record and 3.66 ERA in 14 games. He split the 2013 season between the DSL Rays and the rookie-level GCL Rays, pitching to a cumulative 2–5 record and 3.83 ERA. He returned to the GCL Rays in 2014, pitching to a 1–2 record and 3.24 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work. For the 2015 season, Crisostomo played for the Low-A

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

, recording a 2.85 ERA in 18 appearances. On October 8, 2015, Crisostomo was released by the Rays organization.

Yomiuri Giants

On January 5, 2017, Crisostomo signed with the

(NPB) as a developmental squad player. Initially, he spent a year with the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

's Dominican academies, before his contract was not renewed. He spent the year with the Giants’ farm and team, recording a 3.29 ERA in 18 games. On July 8, 2018, Crisostomo was added to Yomiuri's main team roster. He made his NPB debut on July 10 as the starting pitcher against the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

, and pitched 5.0 scoreless innings en route to the win. He finished his rookie season with a 5–4 record and 2.05 ERA in 13 games. For the 2019 season, Crisostomo pitched in 22 games for Yomiuri, logging an 8–8 record and 3.52 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 138.1 innings of work. In 2020, Crisostomo recorded a 4–4 record and 3.10 ERA in 11 appearances before his season ended after undergoing surgery to clean out his left elbow.

Chiba Lotte Marines

On December 14, 2022, the

signed Crisostomo. In 22 appearances during the 2023 campaign, he compiled a 4-8 record and 3.33 ERA with 58 strikeouts across innings pitched. Crisostomo made 21 appearances for Lotte in 2024, registering a 4-8 record and 2.71 ERA with 91 strikeouts over innings of work.

Uni-President Lions

On January 6, 2025, Crisostomo signed with the

of the

International career

On July 8, 2021, Crisostomo was named to the Olympic roster for the

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

(contested in 2021). He started for the team in their opening game against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, giving up 1 earned run over 6 innings in a no-decision.

References

External links

Career statistics – NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercedes, Cristopher 1994 births Living people Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in baseball Olympic bronze medalists for the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Rays players Gulf Coast Rays players Hudson Valley Renegades players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Yomiuri Giants players Chiba Lotte Marines players Baseball players from La Romana, Dominican Republic Olympic baseball players for the Dominican Republic